VFX Forth for Mac OS X

VFX Forth for Mac OS X is a 32 bit x86 Forth built from the same code tree as the Windows and Linux versions; please refer to the common features version for a detailed description of aspects common to all versions, e.g. code generation. Requires Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later.

Because of the number of clients porting code from other platforms and Forth systems, we are paying more attention to compatibility harnesses, especially for shared library accesss.

Read the latest release notes. Release notes for all earlier versions of VFX Forth can be found here.

Customers say:“Besides the amazing optimizing compiler, I love the DocGen documentation system. The easy C interfacing and Genio driver architecture have also been key for my project.”

“I had written a demo to utilize various math functions found in libraries, mainly to master the library interface in xxx, where I had to write code to handle floating point arguments and return values. I was astonished at the ease of doing this in VfxForth …”

Transformation Engine by Bruno Degazio
Read the Paper about the Tranformation engine

Carbon MacForth on VFX

Ward McFarland at Megawolf has ported Carbon MacForth to VFX Forth. Carbon MacForth is included in the VFX Forth for Mac distribution. MacForth is a mature Macintosh Forth development environment. MacForth on VFX provides the same working environment as previous versions on MacForth – tightly integrated multi-window source code editor, simple project management tools, and more. A few small syntax changes from prior versions are needed. A client porting a large CAD package to MacForth on VFX from the PowerPC version reports that only minimal changes are required.

Cocoa interface

Written by Roelf Toxopeus of BMB con, the Cocoa interface provides access to the features of the Mac’s Cocoa interface. A multitude of example programs help you to learn this complex and fascinating interface. The Cocoa interface is included in the VFX Forth for Mac distribution.

GTK+ Cross Platform GUI

Examples and Libraries

VFX Forth comes with a wide range of application examples.

Libraries include multitasking, floating point, serial and socket-based communications, benchmarks, BNF parsers, binary overlays, full file system support, and more than a dozen application-oriented examples to get you off to a flying start.

System Requirements

Intel OS X 10.6 or later.

Compatible with other MPE Products

The VFX Forth kernel is source-code compatible with MPE’s Forth cross compilers, and compatibility with other versions of VFX Forth is simple as they are all built from a common source tree.

Ordering

VFX Forth for Mac OS X is available in three editions, which differ in the level of source code provided:

Standard: Full system with turnkey application generation, full kernel sources except for the VFX code generator but no cross compiler or tool source code. No PowerNet. One year of tech support and upgrades.

Professional: Full system with the PowerNet web server, all kernel sources and the MPE Forth 7 VFX 386+ cross compiler. With this system you can modify and extend the VFX Forth system. Requires a Non-Disclosure Agreement to be signed. One year of tech support and upgrades.

Mission: Full system with all sources and cross compilers for all supported CPUs and operating systems, and full source for all support tools, including the cross compilers, executable file generator, and support DLLs. Requires a Non-Disclosure Agreement to be signed.

New from mpe – click on title for more information

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I was trying to avoid some work, and stumbled across this post (republished with permission) on one of the LinkedIn discussions. If you are at all interested in software reliability, Les Hatton is someone to respect. I was lost on LinkedIn (not for the first time) and spotted this discussion. […]